Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin

An integral part of the Grande Maison’s heritage, the Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin watch has written some of the most beautiful pages of modern watchmaking, illuminating the 20th century with innovations and exceptional creations. In 1903, the French manufacturer of marine chronometers Edmond Jaeger wished to combine technology with refinement. He chose to focus on the production of ultra-thin watches. Since his workshop did not allow him to machine all the components he required, he turned to Swiss manufacturers. Jacques-David LeCoultre took up the challenge and the two men went into partnership. Together, they created the thinnest calibres in the world. Thus, the Calibre LeCoultre 145, created in 1907 for pocket watches, today remains the thinnest in the world in its category, with a thickness of just 1.38 millimetres. Enriching the tradition of ultra-thin watches so beloved of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture, the manually wound Calibre 849, created in 1994, measures a mere 1.85 mm in thickness. As for the automatically winding Calibre 896, which is only 3.98 mm in thickness, it equips the Montre Master Ultra Thin Small Second watch. Ultra Thin is a sophisticated product of Jaeger LeCoultre excellence in the guise of a very simple watch. To truly understand the Ultra Thin requires looking at it in detail, literally piece by piece. Originally manufactured with the caliber 839, a movement dating from 1975, later production switched to the caliber 849. The Master Ultra Thin collection by Jaeger-LeCoultre is enriched by a new prestigious model that combines a tourbillon with a moon phase complication. In addition, the new Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon features a peripheral ‘jumping’ date that significantly contributes to the distinctive look of the timepiece.Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new Master Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Moon is a quite beautiful example of the genre, with some interesting additional technical features which help distinguish it from the rest of the crowd. The full-rotor tourbillon movement is a relative rarity – JLC caliber 983, which looks to be the JLC cal. 973 automatic tourbillon, Replica Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin
It’s kind of a tough time to be a tourbillon. Complications generally have at least a little bit of an air of let-them-eat-cake about them (okay, probably not the chronograph), but they can often get away with it for different reasons. Chiming complications can plead the undeniable craft which, even today, it still takes to make one; perpetual calendars can argue their connection to the cosmic rhythms of the Earth’s rotation and its annual journey around the Sun; the rattrapante chronograph can play the craft card (at least in its most classic version) and its greater utility than a standard chronograph. But the tourbillon? It’s long since been generally conceded by even its most ardent fans that you don’t need a tourbillon to get a more accurate watch. A lot of folks would argue that, strictly speaking, it’s not even a complication, inasmuch as it doesn’t display any additional information. Which is as good a rough and ready description of a complication as any – though it leaves out a lot of watchmaking which is indisputably complicated to do, including ultra-thin watchmaking.